Potential of Cereal By-Products from Ethanol Production as Feed Ingredients for Swine Production -Monograph
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Prairie Swine Centre old by admin on July 7, 2017
With the tremendous growth of the ethanol industry, more and more by-products – namely, distiller’s grains and thin stillage (DDGS) are available for livestock rations. The nutritional value of dried wheat distiller’s grain for grower-finisher pigs was prior to start of the project unknown, especially the value of wheat DDGS produced in western Canada.
The main objectives for a series of experiment were to: a) characterize the nutritional value of wheat-based DDGS, b) to determine the impact on nutrient excretion, c) optimize feed strategies, and 4) to detect impact on carcass quality. Therefore, to study this feedstuff, the project was initiated with a digestibility experiment with cannulated grower-finisher pigs fed one wheat control diet and 3 dried distiller’s grain diets (corn, corn and wheat, and wheat distiller’s grain). Ingredient, feed, faeces, and digesta samples were collected and were analyzed to determine DE, digestible amino acid, and digestible phosphorus content for the three DDGS samples. This first project indicated in total that wheat DDGS can be used as a feedstuff for swine, but has a lower nutritional value than the parent wheat. However, feeding of wheat DDGS, in particular poor quality wheat DDGS might reduce voluntary feed intake. Feeding of wheat DDGS will increase N excretion, and may reduce P excretion, due to high P digestibility due to degradation of phytate. As such feed wheat DDGS to nursery and grower-finisher pigs may have to be limited to 10 to 20%, for poor quality wheat DDGS, whereas wheat DDGS might be fed up to 30% in finisher pigs, if a good or excellent quality. If proper diet formulation is used (NE and SID AA content), impact on carcass quality is limited but dressing percentage will be reduced by 1 to 2% due to a higher weight of the gastro-intestinal tract due to the additional fibre in the diet.. In a series of follow-up experiments, supplemental enzymes were studied to alleviate the reduced nutrient digestibility and voluntary feed intake; however, supplemental enzymes proved less effective than expected. In collaborative project, effects of feed processing especially extrusion technology have been studied. In conclusion, wheat-based DDGS can be added to feedstuffs databases for feed formulation for swine.